All-Star Kopitar enjoyed weekend

Before he left for the All-Star weekend, Anze Kopitar talked about trying to enjoy the experience more than he did in 2008 when, as a 21-year-old, second-year pro, he was an All-Star for the first time. This time, Kopitar left Raleigh with a couple autographed mementos and also left a good impression, as he scored two goals in the game (for the winning team) and also participated in the SuperSkills competition. Kopitar was back with the Kings today and talked about his experiences in Raleigh, and you can also check out the final video of Kopitar’s All-Star weekend…

KOPITAR: “I enjoyed it a lot more than I did my first one. The first one, you’re so excited to be there that you almost forget to enjoy it. This time around, you know more guys and you know what’s going on, so it’s a little easier to enjoy it more.”

Question: Did you like the format, and the changes they made this year?

KOPITAR: “I liked it. I liked the draft, too. The way it turned out, I thought it was pretty good. I thought it was pretty exciting for the fans. Bottom line, that’s what you want to do, make it exciting for the fans, create a little hype for the skills (competition) and the game. I thought they did a pretty good job.”

Question: Now you’re back here and getting ready for a stretch drive, sort of. Do you think you can carry over some momentum?

KOPITAR: “We played some good hockey before the break. Now, it’s going to be a challenge for us, just to keep it going the same way. It’s been a challenge throughout the whole season, just to stay consistent, and we weren’t able to do that. Now we have to do it, because otherwise things are not going to go the way we wanted them. So it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be hard, but we’ll see if we can answer the bell.”